


it doesn't hurt when the new fire lord is (not) your boyfriend

by My_Bated_Breath



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (this fic is mean to Mai but I promise it's all for the sake of Comedy TM), Crack, F/M, Featuring..., Gen, Katara promoting healthcare reforms, Some Swearing, The Fire Sages promoting Katara promoting healthcare reforms, Zuko (probably) pining from behind the scenes, Zuko's coronation, and Mai's suffering, post Sozin's Comet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Bated_Breath/pseuds/My_Bated_Breath
Summary: In which strings are pulled and hearts are reunited — just not the ones Mai expected.ORMai visits the palace after Sozin's Comet and regrets everything.(The title is a lie, by the way. Mai is in the depths of despair.)
Relationships: Katara & Mai (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), implied/indirect Zutara, one-sided Maiko
Comments: 23
Kudos: 126





	it doesn't hurt when the new fire lord is (not) your boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pineapple_Frenzy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pineapple_Frenzy/gifts).



> Like Mai, I regret everything. What begun as a simple crack headcanon on Tumblr has spiralled into this mess, and now you all have the wonderfully talented @pineapple-frenzy to thank for it. Check out her art on Tumblr, it's all very soft and very Zutara.
> 
> So, Miss Pineapple, I hope this fic will fulfill all your hopes and dreams.
> 
> Link to the post that started this all and vaguely inspired this fic: https://my-bated-breath.tumblr.com/post/631805516475219968/my-bated-breath-imagine-how-much-better-the

This was how she was supposed to find him — sunlight streaming through the windows, golden glow caressing in soft brushstrokes, morning draping the soon-to-be Fire Lord in its translucent veil.

She waited before the palace entrance, the guards on either side barely sparing her a glance as the red doors opened before. Upon stepping inside, she was immediately struck by the emptiness, unnoticed moments stretched taut across the gaps. The halls that she played in as a child, made lively by her ducking behind curtains and darting through pillars with Ty Lee and Azula, were now deathly quiet.

It was inevitable, she mused. After all, the old Fire Nation had to die before a new one could be born.

With barely a soul present where she walked, she only had herself to mark the passing moments. Here and there a servant hurried by, their expressions naive and dazed as they carried through with their assignments. She paid them no mind. They faded into the background as her memories illuminated a time long gone.

There was the kitchen that Ty Lee used to tug them into with a cartwheel and a grin, bean paste dumplings filling the air with an aroma that even Azula could not resist. There was the library where Azula used to recite lectures from the Fire Nation Girls Academy, expounding upon her duties as the future ruler of their nation.

She stepped forward, stepped forward into the illumination of another memory, a light casting down on her as she did. Through a window, she peered at the turtleduck pond that became the centerpiece of so many affectionate recollections. When they were children, she could always find Zuko there, smiling with his mother, and then when she was gone, pensively into the water’s reflection. Nearby was the pond that he pushed her into to save her from Azula’s cruel games.

Mai smiled, bittersweet. Things would be different this time.

The turn at the next corner would bring her closer than ever to Zuko; she knew it as well as the pathways of fate that can be divined from the lines of her palm. Maybe for someone else, there would be a glimpse of hesitation. But Mai knew her destiny. Mai knew Zuko.

She saw the hall before she even entered it. The carved gold dragons on the walls, the windows spanning from floor to ceiling, the watercolor paintings of mountains and sunrises. And of course, she could never forget the clunky wooden desk with half-broken legs and fully-dysfunctional drawers, the centerpiece of the Fire Nation royalty's splendor—

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt.

…Mai didn’t get much sleep last night — she had not rested since her uncle freed her from prison, ignoring everything but the vision of the Fire Nation capital in her haste to reach it. This was normal. She was just hallucinating from sleep deprivation.

Mai pinched herself.

The desk was still there, and maybe she could just stop fixating on it except it was still the most aesthetically offensive object she had ever laid her eyes on — it looked as though it came out of the Hundred Year War itself, all crooked and stained and wobbly and _this was the hall that led to the royal chambers so why was there a random desk here_.

Well. _Well_ — the Fire Nation’s previous Fire Lord had been toppled from his throne mere days ago, and perhaps that called for some moving and redecorating. Questionable? Sure. A disgrace to her eyes? Evidently. But it was simply an error in design, and though it had given her pause it would not — _could not_ — sway her resolve.

With newly regained confidence, Mai approached the desk, bracing herself for when she inevitably would have to squeeze herself in between its sharp, jutting corners and the walls because this hallway had to be _that_ narrow for no apparent reason—

“Hello, can I help you?”

...Did the desk just talk to her?

So it was definitely a hallucination then. Whatever. Bringing both her hands to her temples to soothe an oncoming migraine, Mai sighed and continued.

“Excuse me? Are you _ignoring_ me?”

The desk was not real. It could not hurt her.

That was what Mai told herself, and for a moment, all was well.

She swiveled around.

The desk existed.

She waited with bated breath.

The desk continued to exist.

An exhale of relief. Mai might just losing her sanity after spending so much time around Azula, but everything else was fine— 

The desk jolted.

Then, as if appearing from the Spirit World, a girl raised herself from the other side of the desk. Only with years of practicing her perpetually bored expression prevented from Mai gaping.

Then she did gape when she realized it was not just any girl.

“You’re — You’re the Water Tribe girl that traveled with the Avatar…”

The Water Tribe looked upward from the staggering stack of papers she was cradling in her arms. They seemed to drag both her body and spirits down, as the only expression revealed on her face was that of weariness.

“Uh, yeah. That’s me, Katara.” A cursory glance. “And you’re Mai, of course.”

There was an elapse in which each assessed the other from where they stood, crowded by the nearly nonexistent space between the desks and the walls. In any other scenario, their silent staring would result in an atmosphere so tense that it could suffocate an airbender, but their fatigue was simply too great a burden, thus diminishing their interactions to merely wary evaluation.

Although she did not know it at the time, in the future Mai would recognize this moment as the first in a series of (one-sided) confrontations between them. 

“Okay…” Mai trailed off with no better words with which to describe this situation. Everything about this was _okay_ — strange, but fine. “I’m going to see Zuko.”

“You can’t do that.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why not? Did Zuko not tell me about how I sacrificed myself at the Boiling Rock so that he and his friends could reach safety? I’m not your enemy anymore.”

And besides, even if Zuko aligned himself with the Avatar for reasons she could still not comprehend that didn’t mean that Katara had the right to defend Zuko as if she was closer to him than Mai.

As if.

“I know that,” Katara interjected. “But you’re not allowed to visit because Zuko’s visiting hours are over.”

“What.” Mai stared blankly at Katara.

“Oh, sorry, I keep on forgetting that not everyone knows the new terminology we adopted for healthcare now,” Katara’s previously assertive tone shifted into understanding, which Mai found even more repulsive. “Don’t worry, it’ll all be standardized soon. But essentially, in order to create an environment more suitable for recovery, we’re installing a new system in which you can only see patients at certain hours.”

“And Zuko is—”

“Recovering from critical condition, so it’s especially important that you refrain from seeing him too soon.”

Mai crossed her arms. “Look, Katara—” the peasant’s name felt foreign on her lips, “—I need to see Zuko. Maybe you don’t understand, but I’m one of the most important people in his life. He would want to see me too, I know.”

Katara sighed. “I had a feeling you would say that. You know, I didn’t know why the Fire Sages warned me about this happening before, but the nobility are so _pushy_ —”

“Wait, what—”

“Alright, here you go.” Katara dumped the papers onto the desk with a resounding _bang_ before her hands skimmed the desk’s surface in blind pursuit. When she found whatever she was looking for, she let out a small “aha!” and raised the object to eye-level. “Are you satisfied now?”

A beat.

“You have the Fire Lady’s crown.”

“Hm?” Katara nonchalantly examined the golden moon in her hands. “Yeah, what about it?”

“You— you…” For the first time in years, Mai’s voice trembled. “ _Why do you have that?_ ”

“To tell you that when I say visiting hours are over, I mean it. This gives me the authority to refuse entry to you, does it not?” She said, voice smug.

Suddenly nauseous, it took everything in Mai’s power not to collapse onto the still very offensive desk. “Only the Fire Lady can wear that crown. And only the Fire Lady can…” She blanched. “What’s the… healthcare social reform whatever thing you’re working on again?”

Katara’s face lit up. “After noticing how difficult finding a reliable healer can be, especially for people suffering from severe conditions, I decided to begin a movement to make healthcare more accessible and well-organized for… well… everyone.”

Mai failed to respond, which Katara took as a sign to continue. 

“I started by rewriting the procedure for the palace medics since their tendency to prioritize the wealthy often resulted in inefficiencies in resource allocations, and then that led to discussions on healing techniques — did you know that the Fire Nation has some of the most advanced treatments for burns in the world? In retrospect, it’s a little obvious — so to distribute our collective knowledge most efficiently I’m considering instituting units called hospitals—”

“No. Please. I’ve heard enough.” Mai raised a shaking hand to stop her, desperation cracking through years of monotone. “Just… you realize what this means, right?” She leaned forward on the table at an oppressive angle, her eyes wide.

“Um. What does it mean?”

The desk creaked ominously under Mai’s weight, under the weight of a changing world.

“You’re the Fire Lady, Katara.”

Katara showed not a hint of surprise.

Instead, to Mai’s ever-increasing despair, the crazy bitch laughed.

“Funny,” she gasped out in between bursts of uncompromising giggles. “That’s what the Fire Sages told me too.”

* * *

_One week earlier_

The Fire Sages conversed in hush tones.

They had shared their suspicions before, ones indirectly discussed through lighthearted quips about matchmaking and wistful reflections on young love — talk common among sentimental old men such as themselves — but they were certain now.

“She is what this nation needs.”

“I understand, but are you certain this is the course of action we should take? We must practice caution, especially after one hundred years of bloodshed and ruin.”

“One who does not catch the rabbit while it passes by will forever be left chasing in its footsteps.”

“...What?”

“Do you really want to endure ten years’ worth of heartbreak, life-saving, and pining for Lady Katara to sit on that throne?”

“...”

“That’s what I thought.”

* * *

Fire Lord Zuko’s coronation fell on an auspicious day, skies swept blue like water washing blood and laughter stirring the air as children played on broken streets. Guided by the blessing of a new era, a scarred boy stepped forth into his audience’s vision, stepped forth into center stage.

Before the Fire Sages, he knelt down as a prince.

Before the world, he rose as a Fire Lord.

Even squeezed on all sides by a mass of writhing bodies, Mai was so touched by the gleaming gold flame in Zuko’s top-knot that she temporarily forgot her discomfort. A smile broke across her lips with all the fullness of dawn, and tears, unbidden, welled in her eyes.

Mai was never happy, and yet her heart was beating out this foreign feeling, blossoming with something new—

Wait.

Why was Katara being dragged onto the stage as well?

“All hail Fire Lady Katara!”

In the end, Mai’s screams were lost within the crowd’s cheers.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who has endured through this fic and endured through Mai's pain! I hope the way I wrote Mai came off as sympathetic and at least slightly funny rather than me hating on her (I don't hate Mai I promise). But for better or worse, this is the end result.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Also, you can find me on Tumblr @my-bated-breath if you ever want to talk to me :)
> 
> (And I may or may not have ideas for an additional chapter, which may or may not depend on how much the rest of you want one.)


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